


Overwhelming

by defenselesswriter



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Complete, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mention of Kate Argent - Freeform, she's not in this but there's a mention of her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 17:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10417794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defenselesswriter/pseuds/defenselesswriter
Summary: When Derek feels scared and vulnerable, Stiles' is the first place he goes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> idk i suck at summaries okay. it's a short ficlet i wrote on tumblr that turned into 3 parts because people kept requesting more and i wanted to give them more.

Stiles awakes with a start, his heart pounding almost as loud as the person who is pounding at his door.

“Coming,” he mumbles, not even thinking that hey maybe he shouldn’t be answering his door in the middle of the night? That’s how scary movies start, isn’t it?

Well, it’s too late because he is already opening his apartment door to find Derek standing there with his blue eyes glowing.

“Dude,” is all Stiles can muster. He glances down at his smart watch and sees the time. “Why are you knocking on my door at 4am?”

Derek takes a deep breath, trying to control himself, but now hair is sprouting from his cheeks, and Stiles can’t have any of his neighbors see, so he grabs Derek’s arm and pulls him into the apartment.

“What’s going on?” Stiles asks. It’s been relatively quiet for Stiles since he moved to New York, and it’s not unusual for Derek to be in his apartment but at 4am? That’s a bit unusual. It has Stiles’ anxiety spiked.

Derek shakes his head. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“Dude,” Stiles says again, squeezing Derek’s arm where he still has a hold on it. “Talk to me.”

Derek takes another deep breath and the hair on his cheeks begins to disappear. “I got a whiff of a scent,” Derek finally says.

This puts Stiles on alert. “What scent? Do we know what we’re fighting yet? I can get my baseball bat.”

Before Stiles even takes a step back, Derek is grabbing his hand and keeping him where he is. “It was nothing. Probably. I caught a whiff of Kate’s perfume.”

Stiles stops breathing as he stares at Derek, who won’t look back at him. Derek’s shoulders are hunched, his head ducked. There’s an overwhelming urge to protect Derek in Stiles, and the first thing he can think to do is hug Derek. So he does.

He holds on tight, putting a hand on the back of his neck. Derek buries his face in Stiles’ neck and takes a deep breath.

“Thank you,” Derek whispers.

“Anytime,” Stiles tells him, and he means it.


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles lets Derek go slowly and carefully, watching Derek’s face as he does to make sure he is okay. “How about I make some hot cocoa and we watch The Great British Baking Show?”

Derek nods and moves to go sit on Stiles’ couch while Stiles goes to the kitchen and warms up milk to mix the cocoa powder in. Fortunately, he finds some marshmallows in his cabinets and puts some in the hot cocoa because Derek needs to extra fluff right now.

Walking over to the couch, Stiles notices Derek is curled up in on himself, his legs bent to his chest with his arms wrapped around his legs, holding them close. It breaks Stiles’ heart to see him like this, so vulnerable and _scared_. Stiles drops the mugs on the coffee table and sits next to Derek, turning the tv on and loading up Netflix.

He looks over at Derek with a frown as he decides what he can do to make Derek feel better because Stiles will do _anything_. An idea pops into his head, but he needs to make sure it’s okay with Derek first. 

“Hey, Der,” he says softly.

Derek looks up at him, his eyes sad. “Yeah?”

“Do you wanna cuddle?” Stiles asks.

Derek looks down as he thinks about it then looks back up at Stiles and nods. 

Stiles immediately opens up his arms, letting Derek lean into them, pressing his face into Stiles’ neck.

“Is this okay?” Derek asks, his voice muffled by Stiles’ neck. “I want to forget the smell.”

“It’s perfect,” Stiles says, and he means it.


	3. Chapter 3

After a full episode of The Great British Baking Show, Stiles notices that Derek is asleep, his face still pressed into Stiles’ neck. It’s honestly the cutest thing Stiles has ever seen and makes his heart clench with emotion. Plus, Derek sleeping means he is now comfortable enough to sleep and no longer as scared as he was, which Stiles takes as a win.

Derek’s hot cocoa remains untouched but hey it’s the thought that counts in the end. At the time, it seemed like a good, comforting idea, but guess Derek just really needed to smell something safe and familiar.

Wait. Wait a second. That means….

That means Stiles’ scent is something safe to Derek. Derek thinks Stiles is safe, and that just…wow. That’s a lot. That’s heavy. That’s a lot of emotion building in Stiles.

“I can hear you thinking,” Derek grumbles, snuffling against Stiles’ shoulder.

“Shh. Go back to sleep. Don’t worry about my dumb thoughts.”

“Your thoughts aren’t dumb,” Derek tells him, sounding more awake. He lifts his head up to look at Stiles, and Stiles’ neck suddenly feels cold.

Stiles nods. “These ones are.”

“Care to share?” Derek asks.

Stiles shakes his head and then thinks better of it. “You came here.”

“I came here,” Derek says slowly like he’s trying to understand what Stiles is getting at.

“When you felt scared and needed a safe place,” Stiles continues, “you came here.”

Derek nods slowly. “I feel safe…with you.” He looks literally pained to admit that, but Stiles is glad he said it.

“I feel safe with you,” Stiles admits, and he means it.


End file.
